Antonia Fortress in WikipediaThe Antonia Fortress was a military barracks built by Herod
the Great in Jerusalem on the site of earlier Ptolemaic and
Hasmonean strongholds, named after Herod's patron Mark
Antony. The fortress was built at the eastern end of the
great wall of the city (the second wall), on the
northeastern side of the city, near the temple and Pool of
Bethesda.
Traditionally, it has been thought that the vicinity of the
Antonia Fortress later became the site of the Praetorium,
and that this latter building was the place where Jesus was
taken to stand before Pilate. However, this tradition was
based on the mistaken assumption that an area of roman
flagstones, discovered beneath the Church of the
Condemnation and Imposition of the Cross and the Convent of
the Sisters of Zion, was the pavement (Greek: lithostratos)
which the Bible describes as the location of Pontius
Pilate's judgment of Jesus[1]; archaeological investigation
now indicates that these slabs are the paving of the eastern
of two 2nd century Forums, built by Hadrian as part of the
construction of Aelia Capitolina[2]. The site of the Forum
had previously been a large open-air pool, the Strouthion
Pool, which was constructed by the Hasmoneans, is mentioned
by Josephus as being adjacent to the Fortress in the first
century[3], and is still present beneath Hadrian's
flagstones; the traditional scene would require that
everyone was walking on water.
Like Philo, Josephus testifies that the Roman governors
stayed in Herod's palace while they were in Jerusalem[4],
and carrying out their judgements on the pavement
immediately outside it[5]; Josephus indicates that Herod's
palace is on the western hill[6], and it has recently (2001)
been rediscovered under a corner of the Jaffa Gate citadel.
Archaeologists now therefore conclude that in the first
century, the Praetorium – the residence of the governor
(Praetor) – was on the western hill, rather than the Antonia
Fortress, on the diametrically opposite side of the city[2].
Tower or Towers
Although many modern reconstructions often depict the
fortress as having a tower at each of four corners, the
historian Josephus repeatedly refers to it as the tower
Antonia, and stated that it had been built by John Hyrcanus
for storing the vestments used in the Temple[7]. However
Josephus states:
"The general appearance of the whole was that of a tower
with other towers at each of the four corners; three of
these turrets were fifty cubits high, while that at the
south-east angle rose to seventy cubits and so commanded a
view of the whole area of the temple."[8]
Some archaeologists are of the opinion that the fortress was
only a single tower, located at the south-east corner of the
site[9]; for example, Pierre Benoit, former professor of New
Testament studies at the École Biblique, having carried out
extensive archaeological studies of the site, concurs and
adds that there is absolutely no support for there having
been four towers[2]
Josephus placed the Antonia at the Northwest corner of the
colonnades surrounding the Temple. Modern depictions often
show the Antonia as being located along the North side of
the temple enclosure. However, Josephus' description of the
siege of Jerusalem suggests that it was separated from the
temple enclosure itself and probably connected by two
colonnades with a narrow space between them. Josephus'
measurements suggest about a 600 foot separation between the
two complexes.
Prior to the First Jewish–Roman War, the Antonia housed some
part of the Roman garrison of Jerusalem. The Romans also
stored the high priest's vestments within the Fortress.
The Antonia was destroyed in 70 AD by Titus' army during the
siege of Jerusalem. Titus captured the fortress as a
precursor to attacking the Temple complex. He had the
Antonia leveled to allow passage of siege materials to the
temple.
[edit]Other views
Ernest L. Martin asserts a controversial claim in his book,
"The Temples that Jerusalem Forgot"[10], that the Ophel
Mound is the site of the First and Second Temples and what
is called the Temple Mount today was in fact the Roman Fort
Antonia. His work set off a firestorm of discussion because
Martin asserted that the Temple Mount was not the location
of the last Temple. This work had even more importance due
to the prior relationship between Martin and Herbert W.
Armstrong whose editiorial in The Plain Truth magazine had
been cited by Denis Michael Rohan for his excuse to set fire
to the Al Aqsa mosque during the 1960s.
The basis of this work began with the first visit by Martin
to Jerusalem in 1961 when he first met Benjamin Mazar and
later his son Ory Mazar, who informed him of his belief that
the Temples of Solomon and Zerubbabel were located on the
Ophel mound to the north of the original Mount Zion on the
southeast ridge. Ory Mazar informed Martin that his father
had also inclined to this belief before his death. In 1996
Martin wrote a draft report to support this theory. He
wrote: "I was then under the impression that Simon the
Hasmonean (along with Herod a century later) moved the
Temple from the Ophel mound to the Dome of the Rock area."
However, after studying the words of Josephus concerning the
Temple of Herod the Great, which was reported to be in the
same general area of the former Temples, he then read the
account of Eleazar who led the final contingent of Jewish
resistance to the Romans at Masada which stated that the
Roman fortress was the only structure left by 73 C.E. "With
this key in mind, I came to the conclusion in 1997 that all
the Temples were indeed located on the Ophel mound over the
area of the Gihon Spring".[11]
From these conclusions Martin produced his book in which he
asserted that the Temples of Jerusalem were located over the
Gihon Spring and not over the Dome of the Rock. He wrote:
"What has been amazing to me is the vast amount of Jewish,
Muslim, and Christian records that remain available from the
first to the sixteenth centuries that clearly vindicate the
conclusions that I have reached in this book of research."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonia_Fortress